News Briefs

6/21/2013, Tammuz 13, 5773

Hamas: A Number of Governments is Not the Solution

Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum of Hamas in Gaza said, Friday, that Thursday's resignation of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah of the Palestinian Authority (PA) shows "that unilateral steps cannot solve the internal Palestinian problem." Referring to the failure of Hamas and the Fatah faction of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to finalize reconciliation efforts, he continued, "A number of governments is not the solution."

Hamdallah lasted less than two weeks as the replacement to Salam Fayyad. When nominated by Abu-Mazen, he said he expected his term to last until August, when a unity government would be formed by the rival terror groups. Abbas was unsuccessful in his attempt to get Hamdallah to reconsider his resignation, which was attributed to differences with Abu-Mazen over Hamdallah's areas of authority.